Day 15 Prompt: Endurance
Week 3 Prompt: Associates
Weekday Prompt: Works Hard
Probably one of the better RPG recommended prompts for the RPGaDAY 2026 Challenge and we are provided with “Endurance”. I wonder if this was chosen for Day 15 since it’s the midpoint of the month. I’ve known some participants who have already dropped out already (dang real life). I’ve also been tempted a few times myself, but I think forcing my way through some of these prompts has been a mental challenge.
So where am I going to take this prompt? I’m going to stick with the (now evolved) theme of providing seed ideas with different locations and vessels. I hope you enjoy it.
INCOMING TRANSMISSION
TO: Personal Terminal-Ms. Matilda Harper, Perth, Australia, Terran Confederation
FROM: Personal Terminal-Spacer First Class Ward Harper, Starship Endurance, Fleet Command
CLASSIFICATION: Personal Correspondence- OPSEC cleared
Mum,
I hope that you are doing well. I was pleased to hear that Doc Callaghan had cleared you from your last round of treatments. Please continue to follow his instructions. He knows his stuff unlike those AI-Assisted Digital Companions that still can’t seem to get a diagnostic right. I think that I’m starting to understand dad’s analog way of doing things, especially now that I’m settled down in my new assignment.
In my last letter I told you that my professor at Fleet Academy seemed to have a smirk on his face as we all gathered for our new assignments after graduation. I told you that he seemed to have it out for me. I couldn’t write to you before now because of how busy we’ve been. Packing up our gear. Many different transport stops. Clearing customs and keeping out of scraps along the way. But I’m finally berthed at my assignment.
I’m on that ship, the one everyone keeps talking about. The Endurance. The oldest operational vessel in Fleet Command. I remember when we disembarked from the transport shuttle and one of the other green members asked the Senior Bosun if we were here to help decommission the ship. This old guy just smirked and said “Son, you’ll either be dead, retired or the Grand Admiral of the Fleet before the Endurance is actually decommissioned.”
After getting my bunk, the first thing they had us all do was a temporary assignment with the Cargo Master. I tell you, this woman has the mind of a steel trap. She knew exactly where everything needed to go, what label needed to be on what container and how to rotate the containers so that the oldest items could be accessed first. The entire time I was around her, I don’t think she looked at her digital display device more than twice. I recall her telling the Senior Bosun that she’d rather have another round of arguments with the Syndicate Pirates than the Customs Officials of Oreth Prime.
After we got the resupply stocked and secured, I was finally released to my permanent assignment. I reported to Maintenance Chief, Lt. [redacted]. I walked more steps here than all my years at the academy. The Endurance must be twice as large as a similar cruiser class vessel. This makes for more corridors and access shafts. Lt. [redacted] stopped at one junction and just tilted his head. Then he had me note down that Circuit [redacted] needed to be replaced on the next maintenance cycle. When I asked him how he knew that he just shrugged and said, “The Endurance just talks with you, if you know how to listen.” I think he was serious.
After my first round with the Chief, we were told to report to the Arboretum, where we had our first meeting with Captain Henline and Exec Rosales. We got our official welcome aboard and an introduction to the senior staff. I could tell that Captain Henline has confidence in his team by the way he talked about them. The one that didn’t talk much was Executive Officer Rosales. When it came time for him to talk about his role, he only said that he represents the crew to the CO but is the first to follow the COs orders. I overheard one of the Ensigns whispering that Rosales scared him more than the visiting Admirals they had the week before.
One of the members of the senior staff came up to me just after our meet-and-greet with the staff. It was Lt. Commander Victoria Shellby, the ship’s archivist. Apparently, the Endurance is so old that there is a permanent historian on board. She immediately asked me if I knew the late Jack Harper. When I told her that was my dad, she put on a big smile and asked me to follow her. As we kept getting deeper and deeper into the lower sections of the ship, I was starting to wonder what was going on. Was this part of some prank on the newbies joining the Endurance. But eventually, after passing through three generations of replacement sections, a weird sign that says, “DO NOT REMOVE, IT IS LOAD BEARING.” (she couldn’t tell me what “it” was) and past a coffee maker that was older than I was, she pointed at some graffiti on a hull plate. There, etched in with a plasma welder, was the name “Senior Technician Third Class Jack Harper”.
I didn’t know dad served on the Endurance? He never talked about his time in the fleet. No wonder he loved the analog way of doing things. First, I was upset about getting this assignment. Sure, I wasn’t at the top of my class. But I felt that I had put in the effort to earn a berth on a Madagascar Class Cruiser or a Jefferson Class Destroyer, not the oldest ship in the fleet. Now… now I’m happy to be here. Lt. Commander Shellby didn’t say anything as I bawled. I know dad has been gone for a couple of years now, but this connection confirmed my decision to follow his footsteps into the academy. I hope what I do here will make both you and him proud.
END OF TRANSMISSION
Again, Carl looks at the screen after typing this up. Did I do good? Do you think the environment of the oldest ship in the fleet would work for a campaign setting for Star Trek Adventures, Traveller, FrontierSpace or a host of other science-fiction RPGs out there?
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